MS Dockville 2016 – The Debrief

onAugust 22, 2016

A sunny – and much less grey than indicated above – tenth edition of Hamburgs MS Dockville festival celebrated the big ones last weekend: Foals, Bastille, Milky Chance, Aurora, Crystal Fighters, Hinds, Ry X, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Kakkmaddafakka and tons more shared the two major stages Schots over three days. A line up of evergreens really. Greens then are a point worth emphasizing because the festival traditionally takes place on the river island of Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, a vast green archipelago nestled in the southern part of the city, also hosting large parts of the harbour and maritime industry. The major stages are only half the fun though because, doesn’t it always feel a bit too routine and a bit too choreographed inside that metal scaffolding? So, naturally, the smaller stages are the places that make the Poule’s plumage tickle.

Memorable performances included Britain’s gold medalists Honne, German dreamers KUF, ambient ensemble Grand Brothers and attached above then, Danish sweet cheeks Shy Shy Shy who absolutely teared the roof off the Maschinenraum stage on Saturday afternoon. Stellar performance by the duo backed up by a full band. Their indie electronic pop has a unique warmth and playfulness to it that is hard to resist. Certainly had the audience eating out of their hands. The group then, can also be seen playing the Ja Ja Ja showcases in Berlin and Hamburg at the end of August, be sure to check them out alongside Norway’s Ary and Sweden’s Erik Jonasson.

What is most lovely about MS Dockville though is the fact that it marks the end and highlight of a month of art and music on the festival area. In the weeks before Dockville MS Artville slowly transforms the festival area from a green park and esplanade into an open air gallery and eleven (!) stage venue. Artville takes place on parts of the Dockville area and hosts a handful of smaller music festivals on the weekends leading up to (the big) Dockville. They also invite a selected range of talented visual artists, designers and illustrators to showcase their art, evidenced below.

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A truly marvelous setting for MS Dockville. Taking us out of Dockville 2016 and into the countdown for the lucky 11th Dockville in 2017 are the ever lovely Crystal Fighters and their latest gem, All Night. Team Poule says, if you will have us Dockville, we will be back next year!